A Brooklyn, N.Y., man has filed a federal lawsuit against New York City and the police officer he accuses of taking $1,300 in cash out of his pocket during a stop and frisk, the New York Post reports.
The incident happened a year ago on a basketball court in Brooklyn’s Coney Island neighborhood. A video captured the moment when Police Officer William Montemarano pushed Lamard Joye, a construction worker, against a chain-link fence to pat him down.
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In the video, Joye says, “Look, you see this?” Montemarano then appears to remove a wad of bills from Joye’s pocket. “Give me my money,” Joye demands. In response, the officer pepper-sprays him, the suit claims, according to the Post.
This lawsuit isn’t the first one against Montemarano. According to a New York Daily News report, he was sued in 2013 for beating a suspect and fracturing his larynx.
Joye’s sister, Lateefah Joye, accuses Montemarano in the Joye lawsuit of pepper-spraying her during the encounter when she demanded to see his badge number. Neither of the siblings was arrested.
The city’s Law Department is reviewing the lawsuit, according to the Post.
Read more at the New York Post and the New York Daily News.
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